There are numerous cases of crimes incurring an extra penalty if they affect a certain group, to show that targeting those groups is seen as especially heinous, and/or to more strongly disincentivize crimes targeting them. For example:

• Many states have laws saying that killing a pregnant woman is charged as double homicide.

• The entire purpose of hate crime legislation is to tack on extra charges against someone who commits crimes for racist/religious/sexist/etc. reasons.

• Within police departments, K9 units are often ranked as technically higher than their handlers, so abusing one nets a charge of attacking a superior officer.